FX Developing ‘Fargo’ TV Series With Joel & Ethan Coen

FX is planning to adapt Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1996 Oscar-winner Fargo as a TV series.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the Coens are on board to executive produce the series with MGM Television and FX Productions. My Generation scribe Noah Hawley is writing the script for the series’ pilot.

The original Fargo followed a pregnant sheriff played by Frances McDormand who gets in the middle of a kidnapping scheme orchestrated by a car salesman (William H. Macy) and two inept criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare). The film was marketed as a true story, but this was just a ruse by the Coens.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first attempt to bring Fargo to the small screen: Kathy Bates directed a pilot back in 1997, which starred Edie Falco in McDormand’s role. That show never made it to series, though the pilot was aired the on short-lived cable network Trio.